Check for free school transport
See whether you qualify for free transport to secondary school and the route we use to calculate the distance.
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About the free school transport checker
This checker shows you how far each secondary school is away from your home measured along the road network and whether this distance means you are eligible for home to school transport to the school.
This checker provides the Council’s definitive home to school distances for secondary mainstream transport decisions in accordance with our School Transport Policy.
You can check your eligibility with our separate home to school transport eligibility checker.
What you need to know
- Results refer to September 2025 entry and in-year admissions from 1 September 2024.
- Distances are calculated by road from the address you provide to the nearest open gate at the school that can be accessed by a child walking to school.
- Intermittent long term road closures across the county due to major infrastructure projects such as HS2 and the East/West Rail project may change entitlement year on year.
- The Buckinghamshire UTC is included in the results of this checker. The UTC results are only relevant for admissions from Year 10 onwards and can be ignored for admissions to years 7-9.
- Your nearest school by road may not be the same school as your nearest school in a direct line. If you do not express a preference for your nearest school as determined by this checker it is unlikely we would consider providing free transport to a school further away.
- Use this checker to work out which your nearest school is that must be included as a preference to enable consideration to be given within the transport policy: 3. Statutory school age (5 to 16 - Mainstream and SEND) | Buckinghamshire Council
Your child may also be eligible for free school transport if:
- You are on a low income and extended rights apply
- They have Special Educational Needs, disability or mobility problems and are attending their nearest suitable school
- There is no safe walking route to the school attended and it is the nearest suitable school
These criteria are explained in more detail for statutory school age children in our policy: 3. Statutory school age (5 to 16 - Mainstream and SEND) | Buckinghamshire Council
How the distances are measured
The checker measures the distance using the Ordnance Survey Highway Network data which is the base data for many online mapping and routing applications. The route measured will start at the point on the road network that is closest to the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) point of the pupil’s home and will end at the point on the road network closest to the nearest open school gate. The measurement is taken along the centre of the road and only includes only those footpaths that appear on the Highways dataset.
Refer to our School Transport Policy for more details on eligibility.